MIDDLE EAST: Off the Fence

After seven days of friendly talk in
Baghdad, Premiers Adnan Menderes of Turkey and Nuri es-Said of Iraq
jointly announced last week their decision to sign a mutual defense
pact. Washington and London were pleased: the joining of oil-rich Iraq
to NATO member Turkey is the first major break in the log jam of Arab
neutrality. But in Cairo, the news caused consternation.

Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, no friend of Communism, has nevertheless
used his considerable prestige to keep the Middle East state
uncommitted. In the quarrelsome and weak Arab League, neutralism is not
hard to sell since it is negative:...